Cutter for suction-dredgers.



0. FRUHLING.

CUTTER FOR SUCTION DREDGE-RS.

APPLICATION FILED D120. 14, 1911.

Patented Aug. 4, 1914.

3 8HEETSSHEET 1.

21; J I j l d- 5 I. 7a

il i'irwnsaes;

TH? NORRIS rETERS Cll. PHOTOJJTHO WASHINGTON. D. F

0. PRU HLING.

BUTTER FOR SUCTION DRBDGBRS.

APPLICATION IILED D110. 14, 1911.

1,106,038. Patented A11g24, 1914b 3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

IHE NORRIS PETERS (70.. PHOTO-LITNQ, WASHINGTON. By C 0. PRh'HLING.

CUTTER FOR SUCTION DREDGERS.

APPLIGATION FILED DEO.14, 1911.

1,106,038, Patented Aug. 4, -1914 3 SHEETSSHEET 3.

\ 7n: NORRIS PETERS Cl PHOTO-LITHO.. WASHINGTON. D L" umrnn; STATESPATENT OFFICE.

OTTO FRI THLING, 0F BRUNSWICK, GERMANY.-

CUTTER FOR SUCTION-DREDGERS.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, O'r'ro Fm'innmo, asubject of the Duke of Brunswick, and resident of 14 Lowenwall, city ofBrunswick, German Empire, have invented a new and Improved Gutter forSuction-Dredgers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improved cutter for dredgers of the suctiontype and is particularly intended for cutting heavy and tenaceousground.

Hitherto rotary cutters or picks have usually been used to loosen andbreak up the ground and the broken material. has then been drawn intothe suction pipe with the water current. These devices however have thedisadvantage that where large dredgers are used, very great power mustbe expended to loosen and break up the great quantities of material andfor the reason that much more material must be broken up than can bedrawn into the suction pipe. Furthermore the cutters or picks tend toprevent the forward movement of the dredger and cannot therefore be usedfor self-propelled dredgers.

The object of the present invention is to obviate the foregoingdeficiencies and for this purpose I employ a series of rotatably drivencutters, such as circular disks, saws, notched disks or the like mountedon a shaft arranged across the mouth of the suction pipe which areadapted to cut up the material to be dredged into slices which howeverare not detached at their base from the remainder of the material butare afterward cut away at their base by a station ary knife or knives,which may also be arranged to break up the slices and feed them to thesuction pipe.

In order that the invention may be more clearly understood, reference ismade to the accompanying drawings, whereon I have shown, by way ofexample, various methods of carrying out my invention.

Figure 1 is a plan view of the cutter head ofa suction dredger,constructed according to my invention, the view being taken in thedirection of the arrow L of Fig. 3. Fig. 2 is a view looking inthedirection of the arrow K of Fig. 1, but with the cutter head detachedfrom the suction-pipes and show ing a plurality of stationary knives.Fig.

3 is a side view of the cutter head illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 7. iFig. 4 is a vertical sectional view of the cutter-head on Specificationof Letters Patent.

Application filed December 14, 1911.

Patented Aug. 4, 1914.

Serial No. 665,675.

the line AB of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional elevation of thecutter-head on the line O-D of Fig. 1. Fig. 6 is a vertical sectionalelevation on the line 13-]? of Fig. 1. Fig. 7 is a view looking in thedirection of the arrow K of Fig. 1 but with the cutter head detachedfrom the suction pipes and showing a single stationary knife. Fig. 8 isa view correspondin to Fig. 6, showing a further modification, in whichthe stationary knife or knives and wipers are constructed aswater-chambers. Fig. 9 is a view similar to Fig. 8 showing a stillfurther modification, in which the knife-edge or edges of the stationaryknife or knives enter the spaces between the rotatable cutters. Fig. 10is a view corresponding to Fig. 6. but embodying the provision of intermediate transverse knives and dispensing with the wipers. Figs. 11,12 and 13 illustrate various other forms of rotary cutters by way ofexample.

The cutter-head comprises essentially a plurality of rotatably drivencutters such as circular disks a (Figs. 1 to 10) circular saws a (Figs.11 and 12), notched disks a (Fig. 13), or their equivalent, said cuttersbeing mounted upon a shaft 6 arranged across the mouth of the suctionpipes 0 and 'monnted at each end in suitable hearings in the curvedcutter-hood (Z. Mounted centrally upon the shaft 6 is a chainwheel einclosed within a recessed part I of the cut ter hood (Z (Fig. 5), thischain wheel a being driven by means of a chain 9 from a chain wheel Itmounted on the same shaft as a bevel gear wheel 2', which is driven bymeans of a bevel gear wheel is gearing therewith and mounted upon arotatable driving shaft Z. It will of course be understood that theshaft 5 may be driven by any other suitable gearing.

The thickness of the slices cut is determined by the length of thedistance pieces m between the rotary cutters a and it will of course beunderstood that this distance and'consequently the thickness of theslices may readily be varied by interchanging the distance pieces m. Thedepth of the cut may be varied by the employment of rotary cutters ofdifferent diameters or by raising or lowering the cutter head in theusual manner.

The forward movement of the rotary out ment of the cutter head,irrespective of how the head is fitted on the dredger or how the dredgeris moved forwardly, whether self-propelled or by means of anchors andchains.

Mlounted upon the hood cl of the cutter head is a plurality of waterchambers 91 adapted to be supplied with water under pressure from watersupply pipes 0, the inner curved walls of these chambers being providedwith orifices p, from which the water may issue in more or less radialjets, so as to facilitate the treatment of the material to be dredgedafter it is severed from its base and. as it passes through the dredgehead before entering the suction pipe.

Extending across the rear of the cutter head and suspended from thecurved hood cl is a transverse connecting piece r, from which aresuspended a plurality of stationary knives 8 arranged behind the rotarycutters a and which are of such a form that, on the forward movement ofthe cutter head, the slices cut by the rotary cutters, are cut away attheir base at the desired height, the stationary knives s at the sametime turning up the slices and feeding them to the mouth of the suctionpipes c. As shown in Fig. 2 the stationary knives s are preferablyarranged intermediate the rotary cutters a but, if desired, thestationary knives .9 may be united to form a single knife 3' extendingacross the whole width of the cutter head, as shown in Fig. 7. Thecutting angle of the stationary knives 5 (see Fig. 5) is ca- 3 5 pableof adjustment by employing intermediate connecting pieces 1' of varyingsizes. Thus the cutting angle may be adjusted for different materials tobe attacked or for dredging at different depths. Depending from thefront of the cutter hood (Z are a series of wipers 25, arrangedintermediate the rotary cutters a and adapted to remove any materialclinging to the rotary cutters a and clean the same ready for the nextcut,-

while at the same time the wipers t serve to retain the cut materialwithin the cutter hood (Z and facilitate its removal by way of thesuction pipes c.

It will of course be understood that the device hereinbefore illustratedmay also be used for dredging purposes, where the material to be dredgedis of a softer nature, in which case the wipers 2? may be dispensed withas illustrated in Fig. 10, and if desired,

the cutters a, a, a may be provided with intermediate transverse knivesu for cu ting up the slices of material to be dredged.

Fig. -8 illustrates a further modification, in which the connectingpiece, stationary knife or knives and wipers are constructed in the formof water chambers r, s and 6 respectively, having orifices p, p and prespectively in their inner walls, the water from the main waterchambers 11. being supplied to the connecting piece r through aperturesQ) and from thence to the knife or knives 8 through apertures 12, whilewater is supplied to the wipers t through apertures o from a transverseconnecting chamber w supplied with water from the main chambers mthrough orifices 113.

As illustrated in Fig. 9, the stationary knives 8 may, if desired, bearranged so as to fit between the rotary cutters a.

It will of course be readily understood, that various alterations may bemade in the examples of my invention described and illustrated herein,and details be dispensed with, without departing from the scope of theappended claims.

I desire it to be understood that the term cutting device in theappended claims is to be construed as including either a singlestationary knife or a plurality of stationary knives adapted to cut awaythe sliced ground.

I claim:

1. In combination with the suction pipe of a suction dredger, aplurality of cutters arranged on a horizontal axis across the mouth ofsaid suction pipe, means to rotate the cutters in a vertical plane so asto cut the material to be dredged into slices attached at their bases tothe remainder of the material, and a stationary cutting device arrangedin the rear of said cutters so as to cut away said slices at theirbases.

2. In combination with the suction pipe of a suction dredger, aplurality of cutters.

arranged on a horizontal axis across the mouth of said suctlon pipe,means to rotate the cutters in a vertical plane so as to cut thematerial to be dredged into slices, a curved hood over saidv cutters,and wipers intermediate said. cutters and depending substantiallyvertically from the front of said hood almost to the axis of saidcutters. 3. In combination with the suction pipe of a suction dredger, aplurality of cutters arranged on a horizontal axis across the mouth ofsaid suction pipe, means to rotate the cutters in a vertical plane so asto cut the material to be dredged into slices at tached at their basesto the remainder of the material, a stationary cutting device' arrangedin the rear of said cutters so as to cut away said slices at theirbases, a curved hood over said cutters, and wipers intermediate saidcutters and depending substantially vertically from the front of saidhood almost to the axis of said cutters.

4. In combination with the suction pipe of a suction dredger, aplurality of rotatably driven cutters arranged at the mouth of saidsuction pipe, a curved hood over said cutters, a stationary cuttingdevice in the rear of said cutters, and an interchangeable connectingpiece between said cutting device and hood to adjust the angle ofincidence of the cutting device.

5. In combination with the suction pipe of a suction dredger, aplurality of rotatably driven cutters arranged at the mouth of saidsuction pipe, a curved hood over said cutters, a stationarycuttingdevice in the rear of said cutters, an interchangeable connectingpiece between said cutting device and hood to adjust the angle ofincidence of the cutting device and wipers intermediate said cutters anddepending substantially vertically from the front of said hood almost tothe axi of said cutters.

6. In combination with the suction pipe of a suction dredger, aplurality of rotatably driven cutters arranged at the mouth of saidsuction pipe so as to cut the material to be dredged into slicesattached at their bases to the remainder of the material, a stationaryhollow cutting device arranged in the rear of said cutters so as to cutaway said slices at their bases, a hollow curved hood over said cutters,said hollow cutting device and hood having orifices in their innerwalls, and means for supplying water to said hollow cutting device andhood.

7. In combination with the suction pipe of a suction dredger, aplurality of rotatably driven cutters arranged at the mouth of saidsuction pipe so as to cut the material to be dredged into slices, ahollow curved hood over said cutters, hollow wipers intermediate saidcutters, said hollow hood and wipers having orifices in their innerwalls, and means for supplyingwater to said hollow hood and wipers.

8. In combination with the suction pipe of a suction dredger, aplurality of rotatably driven cutters arranged at the mouth of saidsuction pipe so as to cut the material to be dredged into slicesattached at their bases to the remainder of the material, a stationaryhollow cutting device arranged in the rear of said cutters so as to cutaway said slices at their bases, a hollow curved hood over said cutters,hollow wipers intermediate said cutters, said hollow cutting device,hood and wiper having orifices in their inner walls, and means forsupplying water to said hollow cutting device, hood and wipers.

9. In combination with the suction pipe of a suction dredger, aplurality of rotatably driven cutters arranged at the mouth of saidsuction pipe, a hollow curved hood over aid cutters, a stationary hollowcutting device in the rear of said cutters, an interchangeable hollowconnecting piece between said hollow cutting device and hollow hood toadjust the angle of incidence of the cutting device, said hollow hood,cutting device and connecting piece having orifices in their innerwalls, and means for supplying water to said hollow hood, cutting deviceand connecting piece.

10. In combination with the suction pipe of a suction dredger, aplurality of rotatably driven cutters arranged at the mouth of saidsuction pipe, a hollow curved hood over said cutters, a stationaryhollow cutting device in the rear of said cutters, an interchangeablehollow connecting piece between said hollow cutting device and hollowhood, hollow wipers intermediate said cutters, said hollow hood, cuttingdevice, connecting piece and wipers having orifices in their innerwalls, and means for supplying water to said hollow hood, cuttingdevice, connecting piece and wipers.

11. In combination with the suction pipe of a suction dredger, a cutterhead for the dredger, a plurality of cutters arranged on a horizontalaxis across the mouth of said cutter head, means to rotate the cuttersin a vertical plane so as to make vertical cuts to cut the material intoslices attached at their bases to the remainder of the material, and astationary cutting device arranged in the rear of said cutter head so asto make horizontal cuts to cut away the slices at their bases.

12. In combination with the suction pipe of a suction dredger, meansarranged at the head of the suction pipe for causing a series ofvertical cuts in the material to be dredged, means for causing ahorizontal out cooperating with the vertical cuts to separate thematerial from its base, and means for adjusting the angle of incidenceof the last named cutting means.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of twowitnesses.

OTTO FRUI-ILING.

Witnesses:

FRIEDA BARTELS, EMMA FIEHE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. 0.?

